Occupant-propelled vehicle



Dec. 30, .1930. w. J. PUGH OCCUPANT PROPELLED VEHICLE Filed May 16, 19292 Sheets-Sheet l pNVENTOR. ATORNEYS mam Dec. 30, 1930. w. J. PUGHOGCUPANT PROPELLED VEHICLE Filed May 16. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedDec. 36, 1930 ire-n s'r OCCUPANT-PROPELPED VEHICLE Application filed May16, 19%.) Serial No. 363 690.

The invention is a novel improvementin occupant propelled vehicles, suchas so called Irish mail coasters and the like, particularly adapted foruse by children; and the principal objectof the invention is to providea vehicle embodying certain novel improvements in the means forpropelling, braking, and steering the vehicle in order that same will bemore easily operated and safer to ride npon. i

More specifically the obje ts of the invention are .to provide novelpropelling means for driving the vehicle comprising dog or ratchetmechanisms adapted ,to alternately rotate driving gear in the samedirection; means for maintaining the dogs in neutral position; means forshifting the dogs for operation in reverse direction; means for applying a brake while the dogs are in neutral position when the rockingbeam is pulled liackwardly into extreme position; also to provide meanswhereby the steering may ,be accomplished by pivoting the rocking beamtransversely of the axisofthe vehicle.

I will explain the invention with reference to the. accompanyingdrawings which illusseveral practical embodiments thereof to enableothers to adopt and use the same, and W5 ll summarize in the claims thenovel features of construction, and novel combinations of parts, for wiich protection desired.

In said drawings;

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section througlrthe vehicle embodying one formof the invention.

s a similar seet-ionthroug'h a .modil. is a top plan view with the seatand V r moved.

.r is an enlarged detail view oft-he eecentric clutch .disk forcontrolling the position of the dogsrshowing the dogs set for forwardpropulsion of the vehicle,

Fig. 5 is a view similarito Fig. 4 showing i. a J it 1 7 rear or dr vingwheels A pectively. The

the disk and dogs set for reverse drive of forward ends er side 'iiraniles l are s11 ported on a front axle .5 carrying-the f "1 wheels l -wen he 1. adjacent he front sail tweet if T e agre n at th top of ,beam 7is rdle cross-har .7?) for ging tg-lie heani Beam 7 i s'leonnected at itlevelen a liffl aith i'i'e i l dr ving mechanism, herein ft'erdescribed.

;5r 1.1m sn s 1, in' rear of rocking beam 7, is a seatIO supported "atconvenient heigh by br l i s Qef i is a 1 0 i e 1 eonipris mg a board,id in Fig. the seat comprising a saddle adj'ustably mounted on .an axiaiidisne e lba lfl" supp ed by $1.18 acke s 1 04- ifi'eqk iee' een 5. isneee e e BQ d ee hes 9 -il'lill fi l ih'iheeriillgs 90;, 91) securedbetween the side lfraiines l, the s aft :9 s v r gzbeth s a stee in $haand as R bear ng o the seeking beam 7 and said shaftextends iorwardly toa point dj .theibearin'glplate laandisprovided with a segmental beveledgear ;90 meshing a segmental beveled gear:5c onthe front axle concentricwith the pivot bolt 5b thereof, whereby rotation of shaft Qbythrowihgrocking team 7 tdonesitle or 'tliefdther of the vertical axis of thevehicle frame will cause of the head 5a upon the axle. The upper face ofhead 5a is preferably slightly dish-shaped at its periphery as at 56 toreceive correspondingly shaped bearing portion on the lower face of thebearing plate 1a. The bearing plate 1a is supported by two parallelupwardinclined arms 15 fitting between the side frames 1. The rear endsof arms 11) are preferably connected to, or integral with, the forrdbearing 9a for the steering shaft. 9;

and the spoke 9d of the segmental gear 90 is preferably disposed betweenthe arms 1?) thereby limiting rotation of gear 90 and the turningmovement of the front axle 5. The pivotal bolt 5?) of the front axletransfixes the bearing plate 1a, swivel head 5a, and the front axle 5and maintains said parts in working engagement.

The lower end of the rocking beam 7 projects below the shaft 9 and ispivotally connected to the single draw bar 8, the rear end of bar 8being pivotall attached to the lower free end of a lever 11 t e upperend of which is pivotally attached (in Fig. 1) to a bracket 11a securedto the underside of the seat 10 in rear of the rear axle 2, or (in Fig.2-) to the brackets 10a supporting the front end of bar 105, wherebymovement of rocking beam 7 axially of the vehicle frame, will move thelever 11 correspondingly, although movement of the beam 7 transverselyof the frame for steering purposes will not swing lever 11. Draw bar 8extends forwardly of its connec tion with the beam 7 and is providedwith foot pedals 8a whereby the foot power of the occupant may beutilized to augment his hand power in propelling the vehicle.

In front of the rear axle 2 and journaled on a plate 12a is a relativelylarge gear 12, meshing with a small pinion 13 fixedly mounted upon therear axle 2 whereby rotation of the gear 12 will impart rotation to thesaid axle. Beside the gear 12 and journaled on said plate 12a coaxialwith gear 12 are pivoted two dog levers 14 and 15, the lever 14extending radially upwardly above the gear 12, and the lever 15extending radially downwardly below the gear 12. The outer ends of thedog levers 14 and 15 connected respectively to the lever 11 by means ofpush and pull links 14a and 15a whereby as lever 11 is swung the doglevers 14 and 15 will be rocked simultaneously and in the samedirection. Near the outer end of each dog lever 1 1- and 15 is a pivoteddouble-ended dog 16 adapted to be swung so that either toothed end willengage the teeth of gear 12 to rotate said gear 12 therewith when thelevers 14 and 15 are moved in one direction or to slide or ratchet overthe gear teeth when the levers are rocked in the other direction. Meansare provided on the dogs 16 for normally yieldingly maintaining them inset position with either end engaging the teeth and for maintaining thedogs 16 in neutral position wherein both ends are disengaged from theteeth of gear 12.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 each a centrally disposed arm 16/: ex wardlytowards the jOUIZPl of a bowed spring 16?) comic; the out or 15 adjacentits inner end tends to yieldingly swing one or the other toothed end ofdog 16 into operative en agement with gear 12 according to the positioner the reversing disk (hereinafter explained). On the end of each dog 16is a pin 160 which entersv in a substantially arcuate slot 17a in a reversing disk 17 pivoted at its rear er f 1700 on the plate 12a. Theslots 17-1 17 are substantially diametrically op 17 is supported by ahen operated belicrank lever 18 whereby the said forward end of the diskmay be raised or lowered wit the limits of a fixed guide by man ilrtionof lever 18. Pins 160 on the do normally do not quite touch the .ides ofthe slots 17a when operating, but at the forward end of each slot 17a isa slot 17d of w restricted to just receive the pins 160, th' of the slot17a converging sharply toward the entrance into slot 17d.

The inclined portions between the 17a and 17d raise or lower the dogs 16case may be when the pins 160 slide ther'on from slot 17a to the slot17d into neutrni position. When the hand lever 18 in for-- ward positionwith respect to the fixed guide 18a, and the rocking beam 7 pulledrearwardly its maximum extent, the dog levers-z 14 and 15 will have beenpushed forwardly by lever 11 their maximum extent and the pins 160 onboth dogs 16 will have entered the restricted slots 1765 as shown indotted lines on Fig. l and the slots 17d wiil have caused the dogs 16 torotate into neutral position wherein the dogs will be positively heldout of engagement with the 12, and the vehicle can coast or be movedirrespective of the driving means. In this forward pea? tion the handlever 18 the arms 16c of do 16 are held almost at their dead-centers,but just enough to one side thereof so that when the levers are swungwithin their normal working limits the springs 165 wil snap the dogs 16into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4 so that the levers 14and 15 will alternately rotate the gear 12 in a clockwise direction asthe levers 14 and 15 are swung. In this position the pin 160 on the dogof levers 14 moves adjacent the inner edge of its slot 17a while the pin160 on the dog of lever 15 moves adjacent the outer edge of its slot 17aas clearly indicated in Fig. 4. It will be noted that in Fig. 4 the rearend of the dog 16 on arm 14 and the front end of dog 16 on arm 15 engagethe gear 12 for forward driving at the same time; and vice versa in Fig.5 the rear end of the dog on lever 14 and the front end of the dog onlever 15 engage the gear 12 at the same time for reverse driving, henceas the arms 14 and 15 swing together one dog is driving the gear whilethe other is idly ratcheting upon the gear, both dogs alternatelydriving the gear 12 in the same direction.

In Fig. 5 the hand lever 18 is swung for reverse driving thereby raisingthe front end of disk 17 so that when the pins 160 of the dogs on levers14 and 15 are in neutral slots 17d (as shown in dotted lines) the arms16a of the dogs will be slightly off their dead center positions and tothe opposite side of the axes of their levers so that when the levers 14and 15 are rocked into the limits of their normal working strokes thesprings 16b will snap the dogs 16 into the opposite positions from thatshown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 5 the pin 160 on the dog of lever 14 movesadjacent the outer edge of its slot 170 while the pin 160 on the dog oflever 1,? moves adjacent the inner edge of its slot 1 a.

Hence the outer edge of the upper slot 1.7 a and the inner edge of thelower slot 17a is made concentric with the axis of gear 12 when the disk17 is in uppermost reverse position, and the outer edge of the lowerslot 1711 on the inner edge of the upper slot 171: is made concentricwith the axis of gear 12 when the disk 17 is in lowermost forwardposition. Also the slots 17 a are wide enough so that the pins 160 donot quite contact with either edge of the slots when in operationtherein; hence the pins 160 under normal working conditions move freelyin slots 17a and do not touch the sides thereof, but if a dog 16 shouldbe accidentally jolted over into the opposite position from which it wasset its opposite end would tend to engage the teeth of gear 12, but thepin 160 of such dog would engage the opposite edge of the slot and thedog would be actually prevented from contacting with gear 12 in suchjolted position unless of course the reversing disk 17 were thereafterraised or lowered, as the case might be, to permit actual engagement ofthe jolted dog with the gear teeth. If the rocking beam 7 is pulled intoneutral position tocause the pin 160 of the jolted'dog to enter theneutral slot 17d, the jolted dog 160 when later returned into thenormalworking limit of slot 17 (i would again resume its former workingposition, i. e. the position it originally assumed before being jolted.

When the dogs 16 are held in neutral position and the vehicle may becoasting as above explained, a brake may be applied. Said brakepreferably comprises a drum mounted on the rear aitle 2, over and aroundwhich is wrapped a brake cable 21 (Fig. 1) having its upper end securedto a depending ever 22 pivoted intermediate its ends on the vehicleframe, the lower free end of lever 22 lying in the path of swing of thelever 11 and adapted to be engaged thereby at the end of the normalworking stroke of the rocking beam 7 when the pins 160 of dogs 16 are inthe neutral. slots 17d. The lower end of brake band 21 is attached to abolt 23 on a bracket 24 secured to the main frame, and arranged so thatthe slack in the band may be taken up as it develops by adjusting thenut on said bolt. thereby adjusting the length of the cable. hen thebrake lever 22 is swung forwardly the upper run of cable 21 is pulledrearwardly to contract the cable around the brake drum on shaft 2, butnormally the lever 22 hangs downwardly permitting the cable to expandloosely around the drum.

In operation, the two opposed do -levers 14 and 15 jo'urnaled coaxially'with tile gear 12 working simultaneously in the same direction fore andaft drive; thegear 12in the same direction alternately to rotate therear axle 2. one dog lever operating upon the gear 12 while the otheridles therebv'giving constant rotation to gear 12, and the dogs 16 beingdouble ended tor driving the gear 12 in re- 1 verse directions. Asuiiicient rearward pull on the rocking beam 7 rotates both dog'sio intoneutral position when their pins 160 enterslots 17d, and at a further orextreme rearward movement of beam 7 the Brake is applied, this whenimpendin danger 'isconfronted the operator subconsciously" will throwhimself backwardlv pulling batik the rocking beam 7 with his hand. andpushing forwardly on the foot pedals Qwith his feet.

Thereversing disk 17 eife'ctively coritrols'the position or the dogs byengagement of the pins 160 with the slots 17a and 17 ii.

I do not limit m 'iavention't'othe exam. forms shown in the drawingsfdr'obvidlisly changes ma he made therein within the scope oftheelaitns.

I claim: g

1. In a vehicle, anaizle, a gear for matin saidaXle; a drive leverjournald beside said gear; niea'ns for rocking'tlie lever, adoubleende'd'dog pivoted on said levefadapted to engage the gar'teethwith eitherend; means for vieidably" maintainin either end of the deincontact with said ear; and means'for' lot) automaticallyshifting andmaintaining the do in neutral positlon when the lever is roared beyondone end of its normal working stroke, said means permitting the dog toresume its former driving contact with the gear when the lever returnswithin the limits of its working stroke.

9. In combination with a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, a brake armpivoted adjacent the axle, the lower end of the brake arm lying in thepath of the means for rocking the drive lever, and adapted to be engagedthereb when the dog is in neutral position; and a brake band around theaxle having one end fixed and the other end secured to the brake arm,whereby as the arm is rocked the band will be contracted around theaxle.

In a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, said yieldable means comprising anaxially dis posed arm on the dog projecting towards the inner endof thelever; and a contracted bow spring interposed between the outer end ofthe arm and the inner end of the lever.

1-. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, an axially disposed steeringshaft on the vehicle: and said drive lever rocking means comprising arocking beam pivoted on said steering shaft and linksconneeting the rocking beam and drive lever whereby as the rocking beam is swung axially ofthe vehicle the drive lever will be actuated to rotate the gear, andwhereby as the rocking beam is swung transversely of the vehicle thesteering shaft will be correspondingly actuated.

5. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, said dog shifting meanscomprising a cam disk pivoted adjacent the lever and having asubstantially arcuate slot; means for shiftingthe disk into forward orreverse positions; a pin on the dog adapted to 0perate in the slotduring the normal working movement of the lever; and a restricted slotat one end of the first mentioned slot adapted to rotate the dog intoalmost dead center position when the pin enters therein and maintain thedog disengaged from the gear teeth while the lever is swung beyond itsnormal working limits.

6. In a vehicle, an axle, a gear for rotating said axle; a pair of drivelevers journaled co-axially with said gear; and extending in oppositedirections beyond the periphery ofthe gear; means for simultaneouslyrocking the lever in the same direction; a double-ended dog pivoted oneach lever adapted to engage the gear teeth with either end thereof;means for yieldably maintaining the dogs in driving contact with saidgear for alternately driving the gear in the same direction as thelevers are swung; and means for automatically shifting and maintainingthe dogs in neutral po sition when the levers are rocked beyond thelimits of their normal working strokes, said means permitting the vdogsto resume their former driving engagementswith the gear when the leversreturn within the limits of their working strokes.

7. In combination with a vehicle as set forth in claim 6, a brake armpivoted adjacent the axle, the lower end of the brake arm lying in thepath of the means for rocking the drive levers, and adapted to beengaged thereby when the dogs are in neutral position; and a brake bandaround the axle having one end adjustably fixed to the vehicle frame andthe other end secured to the brake arm, whereby as the arm is rocked theband will be contracted around the axle.

8. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 6, said yieldable means comprisingan axially disposed arm on each dog projecting towards the inner end ofits respective lever; and contracted bow springs interposed between theouter ends of the arms and the inner ends of the levers respectively.

9. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 6, an axially disposed steeringshaft on the vehicle; and said drive lever rocking means comprising arocking beam pivoted on said steering shaft; a depending pivoted armadjacent the rear axle; push and pull rods connecting the depending armwith the drive levers; and a draw bar connecting the lower end of therocking beam with the depending arm whereby as the rocking beam swungaxially of the vehicle the drive levers will be actuated to rotate thegear, and whereby as the rocking beam is swung transversely of thevehicle the steering shaft will be correspondingly actuated.

10. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 6, said dog shifting meanscomprising a cam disk pivoted adjacent the lever and having a pair ofsubstantiall arcuate slots; means for shifting the disk into forward orre verse positions; a pin one one end of each dog adapted to operate inits related slot during the normal working movement of its lever; oneedge of the slot being concentric with the journal of the lever when inforward position and the other edge of the slot being concentric withthe axis of the lever when the disk is in reverse position; each slotbeing of insuflicient width to permit the dog to be jolted over into theopposite position from that for which the disk is set; and restrictedslots at one end of each of the first mentioned slots adapted to rotatethe dogs into almost dead center positions when the pins enter thereinand maintain the dogs disengaged from the gear teeth.

11. In a vehicle, an axle, a gear for rotating said axle; a drive leverjournaled concentric with said gear; means for rocking the lever, a dogpivoted on said lever adapted to engage the gear to drive the same;means for automatically maintaining the dog disengaged from the gearwhen the lever is rocked beyond its normal working stroke; a brake armpivoted adjacent the axle, the lower end of the brake arm lying in thepath of the lever rocking means and adapted to be engaged thereby whenthe dog is in disengaged position; and a brake band around the axlehaving one end adjustably fixed to the vehicle frame and the other endsecured to the brake arm whereby as the arm is rocked the band will becontracted around the axle.

12. In a vehicle an axle; a gear for rotating said axle; a lever besidethe gear, a dog pivoted on said lever and adapted to engage the teeth ofsaid gear to drive the gear with said lever; an axially disposed arm onthe dog projecting towards the inner end of the lever; and a contractedbow spring interposed between the outer end of the arm and the inner endof the lever for yieldably maintaining the dog in engagement with thegear teeth.

13. In a vehicle a pivoted front axle; a rear axle; means associatedwith the rear axle for driving the vehicle; an axially disposed steeringshaft on the vehicle for pivoting the front axle; a rocking beam pivotedon said steering shaft; and a link connecting the rocking beam and therear axle driving means whereby as the rocking beam is swung axially ofthe vehicle the vehicle will be driven and whereby as the rocklng beamis swung trans versely of the vehicle the vehicle will be steeredaccordingly.

14. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 13, the link extending forwardlyof its connection with the rocking beam; and foot rests on the forwardend of the link whereby the foot power of the occupant may be utilizedto augment his hand power while propelling the vehicle.

15. In a Vehicle as set forth in claim 13, an axially disposed bar inrear of the rocking beam above the rear axle; and a saddle adjustablymounted on said bar.

16. In a vehicle as set forth in claim 13. intermeshing segmental bevelgears carried by the front axle and steering shaft respectively forpivoting the front axle as the shaft is rocked.

17. In a Vehicle, a driving gear; one or more levers beside the gear; adouble ended dog on each lever adapted to engage the gear teeth; andmeans for automatically shifting each dog into neutral position when thelever is rocked beyond its normal working limits, said means comprisinga cam disk pivoted adjacent the levers and having substantially arcuateslots therein; means for shifting the disk into forward or reversepositions; a pin on each dog adapted to operate in its respective slotduring the normal working limits of its lever; and a restricted slot atone end of each first mentioned slot adapted to rotate its related doginto almost dead center position when its pin en ers therein

